Chapter 22

Dani

Johnny wasn't in bed next to me the next morning, which wasn't too surprising. Life wasn't ready to allow something as comforting as that just yet.

I rolled out of bed, my body sore but in a good way. Lust swelled deep in my stomach as I thought about the night before. I'd never let Seth touch me the way I let Johnny. Maybe that was part of the problem, but something told me that Seth would never ask, and Johnny wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Hot," I mumbled and pulled my robe over my shoulders. I tied the belt on the way down the hall to get a cup of coffee.

"You look radiant."

I screamed and jumped back at the sound of Tanner's voice. "What the fuck are you doing here?" I looked around for my gun.

"It's right here." He picked it up and twirled it around his finger as he smiled at me. "I just wanted to check in on you. It looks like you're snuggling back up to Ryder, which is a good thing."

"How did you get into here?"

"Oh, come on, Dani. Don't play stupid. You're a cop. You know these apartments offer no protection at all." He stood and lifted his hands high above his head, stretching. "Tell me how it's going with my boy."

"I'm working on it. He's not exactly the type of guy you give a sleeping pill to and haul down the stairs," I barked.

"No, but fucking him late into the night and having him fall in love with you only to crush him is pretty cruel, no? Even I wouldn't do something sick like that." He dropped his hands by his side as his eyes ran down my body. "Anything under that robe? I do like the idea of sharing something with old Johnny boy."

"Fuck you. Don't come near me." I took a step back as horror raced through my stomach.

"It takes a pretty strong woman to sleep with a man that she knows is a whore." He laughed and walked to the door before turning around to face me. He was having far too much fun. "Did he tell you about the baby."

"Yes." I ground my teeth.

"Such a tricky mother fucker." He opened the door behind him without turning around. "You're playing the fool with this man." He tilted his head to the side and smiled again. "He's going to ask for my records."

"What records?" I barked.

"The ones at the police station. The last time I saw him, he asked what he could do for me." Tanner shrugged. "I said he could destroy my file at the precinct if he wanted to."

"That's impossible. Everything is electronic."

"Oh, all that shit is gone. I have a few friends at the station." He stepped out of the apartment into the hallway but didn't move. "It's the physical copy that I need, Dani."

"Why not just have me destroy that, and you go after Johnny yourself?"

"There's no fun in that." He laughed. "If you betray him first, I win. If he betrays you by threatening your career and livelihood for me, I win."

"You're going to win no matter how this turns out, aren't you?" Sickness danced in my stomach.

"That is the name of the game, Kitten." He winked. "That’s what Ryder calls you, right?” He laughed sardonically. “I'll be in touch, and you're welcome."

"For what?" I called after him as he turned and walked away.

"For preparing you for his betrayal."

I grabbed my gun and raced outside to find him gone. A car skidded out of the parking lot about the time I reached the end of the walkway. "Bastard."

There was no way in hell Johnny would ask me to destroy evidence that proved Tanner ran a sex trafficking operation, the same operation that killed my sister.

He wouldn't do it. Right?

*

"Dani. My office please." The Captain walked out and motioned for me to join him as I sat at my desk, staring at a picture of Jason and Johnny from Jason's file.

"Sure." I got up and walked behind the older man until he closed the door behind me.

I dropped down into a chair that sat in front of his desk and crossed my hands over my stomach. "What's up?"

"Just need to share a few things with you." Jack looked ten years older than he should, but with the stress of his job, it was no surprise.

"Alright. Go for it, Cap."

"Someone hacked into our system last night and destroyed the electronic files on the last ten raids you've done. I hate to say this kiddo, but you'll be under investigation for a little while as all of us will." He gave me an apologetic look. "We will figure out who did it, but with all of that evidence gone, we're going to need to pull you back to sex crimes."

Delight mixed with horror inside of me. "Wait. I'm under investigation for hacking into the system, but you're moving me back over to the division I might have worked to destroy? Where are the paper copies?"

"It's complicated, but yes on the investigation and the transfer. There's no evidence against you or any of us right now, so the investigation will sit in the background and be more of a thorn in our sides until it's over. I know, you know, and everyone else on this force knows how passionate you are about helping with the sex crimes. We need help over there, and Thomas brought your name up so many times, we finally had to listen."

"I thought you were worried about my safety, Jack."

"I am, but Thomas thinks you'd be safer in the eye of the storm than sitting idly on the outside of it like a pawn of some sort."

"At least someone is making sense finally." I reached up and pulled my hair down only to put it back up. "When do I get to move back?"

"Later this week. We're processing the paperwork now. I need you to grab Oliver and see what physical paperwork you can find on Tanner. You'll be guarding it. Got it?"

"Oh yeah. Not a problem." I leaned back as a foreign emotion rolled up my spine. Skepticism. Doubt. Worry.

Who did Tanner have working for him on the force? Why would Captain want me to hold the only proof we had that Tanner was a villain? Why not keep the evidence in the safe or our library like we normally did?

Was Jack in it with Tanner? No. There was no way.

"Anything else?" I stood.

"Last thing." He stood and pressed his hands on the desk between us. "Oliver mentioned that you might be involved with Jason Moretti's uncle, Johnny. I was going to explain to you how inappropriate that would be, but now that you're transferring, I suppose your private life is your own where Johnny is concerned."

"We lost the boy by the way." I let out a long sigh, ignoring Captain's comments about Johnny. My objectivity didn't matter where Jason was concerned anymore. I could date Johnny if I wanted to.

"So I heard." He shrugged. "I don't think 'lost' is the right word, but I get what you're saying. Do me a favor and type up the paperwork that needs to be filed with Jason's file. His new probation officer will need it."

I nodded, holding my tongue. I wanted to comment and let Captain know that there was no saving the boy where he was headed, but I didn't honestly believe that. If anyone could save him, it would be Johnny.

Something told me that he would try to no matter what the cost.

*

After a long afternoon of sorting through files with Oliver, we finally had what we needed. I locked the over-stuffed binder on Tanner King in my desk drawer and waved goodbye to a few people as I left the precinct for the day. I wanted to see Johnny, but I knew he had a few things to deal with.

I decided to stop by to see my dad at the church, though it was the last thing I really wanted to do.

The parking lot had only his car sitting out all by itself as I drove up. My sister's grave sat in the distance in the cemetery just beyond the church playground. It was peaceful knowing that dad was only a few steps from Tani's grave at all times. I didn't know why the thought offered me some rest, but it did.

"Hey."

I turned to see my father walking up with a basket in his hands. "I was grabbing some wild flowers from the field for Tani's grave."

"Let me help." I reached out and took the basket from him. "How are you?"

"Worried." He reached out and squeezed my shoulder as we walked toward the cemetery.

"About?" I forced a smile. Our relationship had gone to pot a while back, and now that Seth and I weren't together, my father rarely said two words to me.

"You." He shrugged. "How are you?"

"I've been better." I reached into the basket and pulled out a few wild flowers. "Remember when Tani talked me into throwing wild flower seeds into the yard, and you got really mad at us?"

He chuckled and moved to his knees in front of her grave. "Yeah. I remember that. I couldn't mow the lawn for months because I might hurt your flowers."

I smiled. "And you didn't do it."

"Because I loved you girls." He reached out and took a few of the flowers. "I still love you."

"Do you?" I moved to my knees beside him. "Cause I feel like you love me when I'm good enough. When Seth loves me or when my jobs not dangerous or when I'm doing all the right things."

He glanced over at me. "Is that how you feel?"

"Absolutely." I set the basket down and finished putting the flowers in the vase in front of us. "Tani left because she wanted more love than you and I could provide for her. Now, it's just us."

"And now you're the one running." He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ears.

"Do I have a choice?" I took his hand into mine and turned my attention back to the gravestone. "My job's dangerous and my husband decided to love someone other than me."

"And I'm sorry for that." He dropped his head to his chest and took a shaky breath. "How do we fix it, Dani?"

"This is a start I think." I leaned toward him and rested my head against his strong shoulder. "I'm dating a criminal who has more tats than one person should be allowed to have. He drives a big, loud bike and cusses a lot."

"And you love this hoodlum?" There was no condemnation in my father's voice. It was a bit shocking.

"I think I do." I turned a little and glanced up at my dad. "And I think he loves me."

My dad turned and smiled. "Then I guess that's enough."